AEI Premises, Trevor Pearcey House
6 Star Green Star Rating
Project OverviewTrevor Pearcey House, the new head office of Australian Ethical Investment, is a leading example of sustainability in the refurbishment of an existing building.The original two-storey, 1100 m2 (GFA) building is 20 years old and is part of a body corporate. The refurbishment covered base building and fitout and has involved a complete overhaul with a focus on simple, passive systems and reuse of materials. Significant improvements have been made to the building fabric such as external wall insulation, upgraded roof insulation, operable double opening double-glazed windows, upgraded external shading, exposed internal mass and addition of thermal chimneys. These features allow the building to utilise natural ventilation for space conditioning and significantly reduce the need for heating or cooling. Energy savings compared to the original building are estimated at 75%. Substantial water savings (estimated at over 80%) have also been achieved through the upgrading of sanitary fixtures and capture of rainwater to supply toilets. A major feature of the project has been the amount of material reused. The existing internal fitout was carefully deconstructed and then adaptively reused in the refurbishment. Reused items included carpet tiles, doors, joinery, ceiling tiles, metal studs, plasterboard, glass blocks, structural steel, insulation and miscellaneous fittings including cabling, power points, etc. One of the features is artwork created from old computer floor tiles. New items installed were predominantly recycled such as, entry mats made from old car tyres, recycled timber floor and wall boarding, recycled carpet tiles and pin boards from recycled newspaper. The refurbishment was delivered on a conventional budget ($1700/m2) and demonstrates that significant environment improvement can be achieved in our existing building stock and that simple, passive systems can deliver comfortable and productive work spaces. |
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Category Achievements
Management
Comprehensive commissioning of all servicesExtensive reuse and recycling of waste
Indoor Environment Quality
High levels of natural ventilationNatural daylight with effective external shading
Individual control of comfort systems for over half of users
Avoidance of VOC emitting materials
Reduction in formaldehyde emissions using recycled or E0 board
Energy
Greenhouse emissions 47% lower than 5 star ABGRExtensive energy and tenancy submetering
High efficiency (T5) lighting system with local switching
Transport
Minimised car parking with small car spacesDedicated cyclist facilities
Close proximity to public transport
Water
Dual flush toilets, low flow showers and water efficient urinalsRainwater capture for toilet flushing
Air-cooled chillers (no cooling towers)
Materials
Reuse of existing facade and structureFully integrated fitout
Recycled steel and sustainable timber
Land Use & Ecology
Reuse of existing built land (refurbishment)No topsoil removed from site
Emissions
Zero ODP refrigerantsRetrofit of pollutant traps to existing stormwater system